Civil Rights Movement In Dr Kirk’s Book Martin Luther King Jr.

downloadDownload
  • Words 493
  • Page 1
Download PDF

Dr Kirk’s book ‘Martin Luther King Jr.’ argues that it’s true that King was an important part of the campaign, however he wasn’t ‘above or apart from it’ – this view is fairly valid as it supports the idea that King was supported by grassroots organisations too. Kirk suggests that King struggled in his leadership role and was helped by other leaders; he even suggests that other events, like the 1960 student sit-ins, had more success than any of King’s events did – this can be considered valid as following the sit ins, dining facilities in the South began desegregation. As Kirk is a white person writing in 2005, he’s likely to have a more detached view of the civil rights movement – this can be beneficial as it allows him to have a more clear view from an outside perspective without being emotionally invested to one side of the story. However it is limiting as he has less access to primary sources from the time as many are kept in their local communities. Also, Kirk focuses primarily on the civil rights movement from the 1950’s – 1960’s looking at the origins and legacies of the struggles faced in the civil rights movement.

This is limiting as during this time period, historians tend to focus only on the leaders of national significance, like King, while ignoring grassroots organisations in favour of ones like the NAACP. This in turn means that he’s likely to ignore the role of female activists as they typically were only involved in grassroots organisations while men took the leadership positions – Ella Baker was a strong activist for students, for example. As Kirk’s book was written in 2005, it gives him a more advantageous viewpoint as he is able to look at the civil rights campaign in its entirety while still able to look at first hand perspectives.

Click to get a unique essay

Our writers can write you a new plagiarism-free essay on any topic

This is especially true as, despite being, he now lives in Arkansas. Kirk is a Professor of History and director of Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity at the University of Arkansas so is considered a highly reputable source for the civil rights movement. He’s also published eight books, including one award winning book focusing on black activism in Arkansas from 1940-1970 titled ‘Redefining the Color Line.’ Kirk’s heavy focus on King’s leadership can be beneficial as he clearly has a detailed knowledge of all of King’s successes and failures and has still come to the conclusion that he wasn’t above the movement, however it prevents him from making a comparison to earlier activists, as he doesn’t seem to look at content from before 1940, thus ignoring the hardships these activists faced, especially during the 1800’s, like lack of accessible media. Overall, Kirk’s view is fairly convincing; this is evident as his level of expertise allows him to reach a substantiated conclusion, although he looks at a fairly narrow period of time, his view is still fairly valid.

image

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy.